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Keep Your Head Up/Part 2
"Keep Your Head Up" is story three of the Universal Clarification Series. Story “You’re the worst,” Jonathan spat over his shoulder as he stormed into his house. He tossed his satchel strap over the hook by the door, taking little care in making sure it stayed in place; the fury of cold fire flared up in his eyes. “You’re not still mad about what happened at lunch, are you –” SLAM! Sock hovered on the front porch in utter shock that his counterpart had literally slammed the door on his face. When he recovered, he phased halfway through it and furrowed his brows, watching the teen as he tried to escape up the stairs. “Where do you think you’re going, huh?” he interjected. “Don’t you walk away from me, mister! We’re not through here!” Jonathan glanced back and gave him the middle finger before continuing on his way, but that rattled Sock’s chains. The demon raced ahead of him and stared him down, forcing his human to grab a hold of the railing along the wall. “You can’t ignore me, Jonathan,” he stated. “I’m not going anywhere until ya kill yourself.” "Outta my way, Sock." “No, you listen to me – I am this close to jumping back into you right now, so just –” "You wouldn't dare." Sock’s eyes flickered as he said, “You bet your sorry ass I would.” This earned him a two-handed shove through the floorboards, but seconds later, he was back up in the teen’s face. “I mean it!” “Just stop, dude! Just – seriously, just stop.” "Make me!" Jonathan was at a loss for words. Insults and slurs were at his mental disposal, and yet not a single one of them was suitable for this situation. He stood in silence with his hands up in a monster claws position until he let out a defeated sigh. His hands lowered, as did his head, to collect himself. “…You can’t make me kill myself,” he said at last. "Yes I can," Sock argued. "It's my job." “Which you suck at,” Jonathan rebutted. He walked through his ghostly counterpart to climb the rest of the stairs, keeping a hand on the railing. As he did, he overheard the demon stuttering, but paid him little mind. It was the moment he set foot on the last step that Sock reclaimed his attention. "I didn't expect you to care so much." The teen froze. He could feel the fellow boy’s eyes watching and waiting for his next move, so he hesitated to respond. This prompted Sock to continue, although his tone turned more solemn. “I just…didn’t realize how much you cared…about Claire, I mean. I know possessing you and making you talk to her wasn’t the nicest thing I’ve ever done, but…ya know, it’s not the worst I could’ve done, right? I mean, I could’ve made you streak across the football field or something, so just keep that in mind…” The very thought of such a scene made Jonathan’s shoulders tense. He willed the nightmare away and straightened his back before addressing his counterpart. “On that note,” he began, pausing to turn towards the ghost boy, “I’m still pretty pissed about being your puppet.” To that, Sock frowned and drifted higher up the stairs after his human. “''Still''? Jonathan, come on – that was, like, two weeks ago! Get over it already!” “If you hadn’t done it, I’d still have a lunch table all to myself,” Jonathan barked back. He briskly turned away and continued towards his room, veering a hard right from the top of the stairs. He only spared a second to realize his sister’s door was closed – a sign that she was out of the house – before entering his room. Then he shut the door, but Sock phased through it with ease. “Okay fine – sure. But hear me out on this one,” the demon pleaded. He waited until his counterpart sank into his bed before zipping around to meet his distant blue-eyed gaze. The teen avoided making eye contact, but had no other choice when Sock took hold of his chin and turned his face towards him. “Whatever happened back in middle school doesn’t matter anymore,” Sock contended with a quick shrug. “It’s in the past, right? And besides – she’s probably a different person by now. She’s kinda freaky –” “– Are you kidding?” Jonathan quipped. “She’s insane. She collects skulls by picking up roadkill. With her hands – and who keeps latex gloves in their backpack?” “Okay, okay, fine – fair point, but still,” Sock continued. He hovered back several inches from the bed and crossed his legs, sitting in midair. “But she looks pretty harmless. Maybe she’s just lonely like you?” His counterpart rolled his eyes and slouched forward with his hands between his legs as he let out a soft sigh. A moment of silence passed before his demon smiled, stating, “And ya might even like her after a while. It’s kinda cute how much she already likes you.” The chill returned to Jonathan's icy blue eyes. “I don’t want her to like me, Sock. I never wanted to befriend her in the first place.” “You could always tell her to hit the bricks,” Sock suggested, but his tone soured as he added, “Or push into oncoming traffic.” Before the teen could respond, his eyes darted away in thought. Then he chuckled. “Yeah, do that! Then she could add her own skull to her collection –” "Sock." The demon was too busy drifting around the room to hear Jonathan. “– And then you’d go to Hell for committing murder –” "Sock, wait." Jonathan lifted a hand to grab his little ghost, but barely missed when he passed by. “– And then she could haunt you, too –” That brought the alarmed teen to his feet. “Whoa, hold on –” Suddenly Sock was back in his face, beaming at his counterpart with green eyes flickering like fire. His smile took up most of his face as he ecstatically cried, “And if she haunts you with me, then I’ll finally have a friend! Wouldn’t that be great? Two demons for the price of one! That’s – what, like – the deal of a lifetime, I think? It’d be great! Do it, Jonathan! Kill Claire!” “Will you shut up and listen to me for once?” Jonathan shouted. He grabbed Sock’s shoulders, which startled the little demon into submission. The teen continued to scold him, giving him a firm shake now and them for emphasis. “Back in middle school, she was anime trash like you. Her hair was as colorful as your stupid hat, and if anyone made eye contact with her, she’d go up and talk to them. She was a curse in motion, just like you. Maybe her hair is different now and she’s got new glasses, but she’s still a walking disaster. Nobody ever really changes, Sock, and if you think I’m gonna do you a favor by being her friend, then you can just go back to Hell and burn for all I care.” Another wave of silence washed over the boys, which gave them time to collect their thoughts. While Sock processed the barrage of insults his counterpart directed at him through his criticisms for Claire, he blinked and twitched his nose. “…Okay first off, how dare you.” Jonathan groaned and shoved the demon away, turning his head as he muttered a bad name for him. Sock fixed his goggles back into place after phasing partly through the wall, and then kicked it. The force sent him traveling back towards the teen. Continuation *'Part 1' *'Part 3'